The Catalan is already considered among football's best ever coaches, though is yet to try his hand in the international game
When England met Greece in the Nations League last Thursday, they were the odd team out in the contest that had never won a European Championship before. The Three Lions have lost the last two finals, yet that is the closest they have come to continental glory in the men's game.
That famous '30 years of hurt' phrase will have rolled over to 60 by the time the next World Cup comes around – we'll be as far away from Euro 1996 as the release of that Lightning Seeds song from the 1966 World Cup. Sorry for making you feel old and potentially thrusting you into existential crisis, but this is a time for home truths.
England have a managerial vacancy, and a leading candidate for the job is Pep Guardiola, whose Manchester City contract expires at the end of the season. He's left a trail of success wherever he's been, and that extends to the countries he's managed in.
Some pundits, such as Roy Keane, have warned the FA they need to "go for the best", which is inarguably the charismatic Catalan. There is a notion that England are at a slight disadvantage in trying to woo Guardiola, yet that isn't the case at all – if anything, he needs such a job more than they need him.
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Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱AFPFoundations for Spain & Germany
It would be quite overeager and presumptuous to claim that Spain and Germany's respective World Cup successes were down to Guardiola's work in those countries at the time of those glories, but it would be equally cynical to suggest he didn't in-part influence the way those sides came and conquered.
Spain, though traditionally a possession-heavy side anyway, leant heavily on relationships and partnerships built within Guardiola's Barcelona – remember when there was a genuine debate over whether Lionel Messi should have chosen to represent La Roja instead? Barca were the idyllic team of that generation, and Spain boss Vicente del Bosque implemented a lower-pace style which mimicked that side but as to suit the different demands of international football.
Of course, Germany are perennial favourites in essentially every match they've ever played too, and Guardiola had only been at Bayern Munich for one season, yet there was a new-found ruthlessness and savviness about their 2014 displays which had evaded them at Euro 2012.
Whether merely coincidental or with underlying intention, Guardiola has built up enough stock for the masses to think it conceivable he had a hand in swinging the pendulum of the international game by footballing osmosis. That should count for something, and this process has extended to his time in England.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportChanging English football
Guardiola didn't simply bring principles such as playing out from the back and dominating the ball to English football, but he did fasten those trends and perfect them. All down the pyramid are teams trying to bait the press or build from deep, which may have happened eventually anyways, though not at such a steep, and sometimes reckless, trajectory.
When City were on the cusp of winning the 2017-18 Premier League title – their first under Guardiola and with a record points tally of 100 – John Stones spoke of the impact his coaching had on the international team and what then-manager Gareth Southgate was benefitting from.
"I think we try to bring all the attributes and what we learn under Pep into the England squad, and are open to learn from Gareth as well," he said. "We work hard on the training pitch under Pep, learn a lot of things, different styles of play, how to play against different formations. I think it gives you that head start coming into England, and we can share our ideas as well."
Southgate went on to oversee the most successful period in the history of the England men's national team since the sixties, with his famed man-management working in tandem with his players' tactical and technical brilliance.
Getty Images SportCarsley's 'world-class' warning
Interim manager Lee Carsley is currently mid-Hokey Cokey on whether he should actually get the job on a full-time basis, but he did have an ominous warning after Sunday's win away at Finland: "This job deserves a world-class coach that has won trophies and I am still on the path to that."
That seems to be the way of the international game at the moment. Julian Nagelsmann replaced Hansi Flick as Germany boss last year, Mauricio Pochettino is in charge of the USMNT, Luciano Spalletti is beginning to get a tune out of Italy, Luis de la Fuente enjoyed Spanish success at youth level (similarly to Carsley, in fairness) and Thomas Tuchel is another contender to take the England job.
Any fanciful dream the FA had of instilling Jurgen Klopp is dead, leaving Guardiola as the best manager available for hire. The least they can do is ask him about taking over from Carsley.
AFPThirst for international management
Even before Guardiola's recent comments neither confirming or denying any interest in the England gig, he left the door ajar in the recent past to international management.
When asked back in March 2024 what he has left to achieve, the Catalan replied: "A national team. I would like to train a national team for a World Cup or a European Championship. I would like that.
"I don't know who would want me! To work for a national team they have to want you, just like a club."
Well, you're in luck then, Pep. This vacancy has come at the perfectly opportune time for all parties involved.
